Cruising with the Carters: Mouzon to Charleville-Mezieres

45 kms, 8 locks

Thick fog this morning. By 8.45 when we wanted to leave it was just beginning to thin and 10 minutes later Ian reckoned it was good enough to see so off we went.

Ian chatting to his mother in South Africa

It took an hour to disperse completely and it turned into a glorious day.

Entering Sedan

There are many homes right on the river, some with rather questionable docks

Some lovely homes alongside the water

We saw quite a few pleasure craft, among them this little yacht...

...and this greedy and inconsiderate plonker who was cruising on the wrong side of the canal squeezing us tight into the bank, moved at the last moment and then gave us a "what do you think you are doing" shrug as they went passed while his wife waved a very large goblet of something alcoholic looking - it was 3 in the afternoon.

Exiting Lock 42 in the middle of the town - impressive old stone walls alongside

Looking back towards the lock

We have stopped at a pontoon mooring outside the Port de Plaisance, not sure if we are supposed to pay here or not. It is on the opposite side of the canal from the town centre and there is a long footbridge to the other side.

All the way along the Meuse we have gone through some sections of the river (nice and windy) and some sections that are canals cut between loops of the river. In those sections we have encountered some weed and today, a lot of weed. We noticed the speed dropping and every now again Ian did some strong reverse manoeuvres and chunks of weed kicked out the back. Obviously the weed was getting wound around the propeller. When we stopped in Charleville Ian got out his funny little endoscope camera, attached it to the boat hook and plugged its long cord into the laptop. Then he put the camera into the water to take a look at the propeller. Yup, there were still some strands of weed wrapped around it. That meant taking everything out of the hanging locker and opening up the base to get access to the coffer from which he can reach the propeller. 5 minutes later all the weed was off. Job done. And he didn’t have to jump in the water (which is still rather cold).

Then I went for a walk into the town. The footbridge is a a suspension bridge and as joggers run across it ( and there were quite a few) you can feel it bounce and sway. On the other side there is an old mill, really rather magnificent, which is now a museum to the poet Arthur Rimbaud who was born here.

The beautiful Place Ducal is just 2 blocks away. Unfortunately, there are preparations underway for a fair so it was really difficult to take photos of the magnificent buidings. It is a huge square and just choc-a-block full of eateries and drinkeries of every description, most of which have outside pavement seating. Very impressive.